The Volkswagen Golf R400 concept confirmed for production

They'll build it, but will it come?

In Beijing, our friends at Car and Driver managed to discover a nugget of news that Volkswagen perhaps wasn't ready to share just yet. Nonetheless, it's out in the open, and it has us excited—and nervous. It sounds like Volkswagen is going to build the Golf R400, a 395-hp super-GTI that yesterday we thought looked suspiciously production-possible—but will it come to North America?

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Here's what we know: VW R&D chief Heinz-Jakob Neusser confirmed directly to Car and Driver that production is likely, and we also gather that the EA888 will be underhood—a motor that makes 290 hp in the US-spec Golf R. With a little more boost and slightly hardened internals, it doesn't seem like 395 hp is outside the realm of possibility for the otherwise ubiquitous EA888.

There's a tricky issue with pricing very hot hatches, something we found out with the otherwise charismatic 2013 Golf R. It didn't feel (or look) special enough for its $35,000 price tag. Perhaps the wilder R400, translated into production, would cure what ailed the Golf R. But it almost certainly won't be cheaper.

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